Netanyahu-Smotrich deal: New settlements in exchange for Gaza aid
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A reported deal between Benjamin Netanyahu and Bezalel Smotrich allows humanitarian aid into Gaza in exchange for expanding West Bank settlements.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich, attend a weekly cabinet meeting in the prime minister's office in Al-Quds, Sunday, June 18, 2023 (AP)
A deal between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich could allow humanitarian aid into Gaza in exchange for advancing new West Bank settlements, Israeli newspaper Maariv reported on Tuesday.
This comes less than a month after Smotrich publicly voiced strong opposition to resuming humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza.
In late April, Smotrich told the newspaper Makor Rishon, "If even a single grain of humanitarian aid reaches Hamas. I'll leave the government and the cabinet. I told the Prime Minister: I'll never agree to this, over my dead body. I have a guilty conscience, it pains me that I didn't overturn the table a year and a half ago."
In a striking policy reversal, Smotrich held a press conference yesterday just as the first aid trucks were entering Gaza, declaring his support for allowing basic humanitarian supplies into the strip.
Maariv reported that Smotrich justified the move as strategically necessary to achieve a decisive military victory against Hamas.
During a Monday security cabinet meeting, West Bank Coordinator Major General Ghassan Alyan briefed members on plans to resume aid deliveries.
He acknowledged that while measures are in place to monitor and prevent aid from reaching Hamas, there's no absolute guarantee some won't reach the group's members.
According to a source present at the meeting, Smotrich, contrary to his previous statements, did not oppose resuming aid deliveries, but rather supported the move, surprising many of those present in the meeting.
Netanyahu, Smotrich, strike a deal
According to political sources speaking to Maariv, this reversal resulted from a Netanyahu-Smotrich agreement made in response to growing international documentation of Gaza's humanitarian crisis and sustained foreign pressure on "Israel".
The sources said that the agreement stipulates Netanyahu's approval for establishing hundreds of new residential units across West Bank settlements through a combination of new settlement cores and agricultural farms extending along the eastern border areas. A senior political source told the newspaper that the agreement was finalized in recent days.
At Smotrich’s request, the cabinet approved the settlement project alongside Gaza aid authorization, while Channel 14 reported the government plans to greenlight 22 new West Bank settlements, including "Shanur".
While data points to behind-the-scenes coordination, both Netanyahu's and Smotrich's offices issued near-identical denials, claiming the aid and settlement decisions were unconnected.
